For the completely automatically controlled cleaning of such atomizers required at regular time intervals during the coating operation, various cleaning devices are known, which each consist of a closed housing up to the insertion opening for the atomizer. In the interior of this housing, the inserted part of the air or rotary atomizer is sprayed with cleaning fluid by a rotating or stationary nozzle arrangement of the cleaning device and then can be dried with compressed air. For example, cleaning devices of this type known from EP 1 367 302 or DE 101 10 098 have the disadvantage that they are not suitable for the internal cleaning process, which is typically designated as a short rinse and in which rinsing agent is led from a short rinsing channel of the atomizer through its pain nozzle and, in the case of rotary atomizers, especially in the way known from EP 0 715 896, also from the outside of the rotating bell plate, and is sprayed from the atomizer. This can be useful when changing colors or after the painting of a certain number of car bodies or other work pieces with the same color, in order to remove possible paint deposits on the pain nozzle or on the bell plate. When this internal cleaning process or short rinsing process is performed in known cleaning devices, the greatly swirling mist generated when the painting and rinsing agent mixture is atomized spreads around in the interior of the cleaning device and covers both the interior, including the cleaning nozzle arrangement positioned in the interior, and also the outside of the inserted atomizer. One could certainly first perform the short rinsing and only then spray the outside of the atomizer and clean the interior, but the associated time losses in the series-production coating of work pieces is extremely undesired due to the corresponding production losses. This problem also occurs essentially when, according to EP 0 869 849 or DE 101 29 667, only the spray head or only the air cap of air atomizers is inserted into the cleaning device while eliminating the cleaning of the outside of the atomizer housing.
Another time problem results from the fact that a flammable mist is formed in the interior of cleaning devices, especially for coating and rinsing agents containing organic solvents, and therefore no electrical voltage arcing leading to sparks may be possible. This risk consists in the cleaning of electrostatic atomizers, which are connected to high voltage on the order of magnitude of 100 kV in a known way for contact charging of the sprayed coating material, for example, by the bell plate or for exterior charging by external electrodes. Because the known cleaning devices typically lie at ground potential, the high voltage of the atomizer first must be turned off and discharged before the atomizer is inserted, which means that time losses typically on the order of magnitude of one minute must be taken into account.